Continuous writing-tablet.



H. B. CARLSON.

commuous WRITING TABLET.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 4.1914.

- Patented Sept. 25, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

H. B. CARLSON.

CONTINUOUS WRITING TABLET.

' APPLICATION man MAY4, I914.

'Patented Sept. 25, 191?.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

. mmszw;

511 venwb I HERMAN 1B. CARLSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CONTINUOUS WRITING-TABLET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed. May 4, 1914. Serial nassasoa To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN B. CARLsoN, a subject of the King of Sweden, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Continuous Writing-Tablets, of whichthe following is a description.

My invention belongs to that class of devices known as stenographers appliances, and relates more specifically to a paper feeding device to take the place of the ordinary stenographers note book, or court reporters book. Where note books are employed considerable time is taken in turning the pages, both in writing the notes as well as transcribing the same, thereby lowering the speed of the one taking the notes. Likewise the attention of the note taker is diverted from the subject-matter in hand, tending to cause error, which is particularly undesirable in court reporting. With my improved device the paper is fed before the note taker at a desired uniform speed. In the device shown the paper remains stationary while the notes are not being taken, the machine being adapted to be controlled by the weight of the hand resting upon the machine. It is constructed so that the notes may be written in one continuous line, thereby obviating the necessity of moving the note book or the hand to go from one line to another.

My invention has among its objects the production of a device of the kind described that is simple, convenient, durable, eflicient,

. attractive and satisfactory, that may be employed wherever found applicable.

To this end the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and combination of parts herein shown and described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate like or corresponding parts, 7 F igure 1 1s a sectional view of my improved machine, taken substantially on line 1, 1 of Fig. 2; p

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substansubt e but on 5F g- 6 i a vie o Na .25:

Referring to the drawings, in which my preferred form of machine is shown, 1 represents a suitable base provided with a cover or casing part 2,having sides 3 and 4:. The side 4 is preferably hinged as at at, so that it may beopened as desired. The side 3 may be similarly constructed if so desired. Arranged within the machine is a shaft 5, adapted to supporta spool (not shown in detail) having an end or flange 6. The paper extends across the machine as at 9, and is secured to another spool (not shown in detail) on a shaft 7, only the end or flange 8 of the same being shown. Arranged within the machine is a driving shaft 10, which is driven in a manner hereafter described. Secured to shaft 10 is a gear 11, which mesheswith a pinion 12, carried on a small shaft 18, which is carried by one endof a bell-crank lever 15, 16. The construction is such that as the bell-crank is rocked the pinion 12 may be thrown out of mesh with the gear 20 hereafter described. The bellcrank is controlled by a lever 17, pivotally secured thereto at one end, and having its opposite end pivotally secured at 18 to a controlling button 19, which is normally maintained up by a spring 19, or its equivalent. This hutton 19 may be termed the reverse button, the purpose of the same being more fully understood from the further description.

Carried by a standard 22 is a shaft 21, to

which is secured the pinion 20, orcviously mentioned, in mesh with the pinion 12, when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1.. Also secured to shaft 21 is a bevel pinion 23, which meshes with a pinion 27 arranged on a shaft 24. The shaft 2 1 has one end rotatably supported by a member 25 loosely arranged on shaft 21, and the opposite end rotatably supported by a bracket 34;, carried by the casing or other fixed part. Slidably secured on shaft 2 1 is a friction wheel 26, adapted to cooperate with a cooperating friction wheel 14 secured on shaft 7, a key 28 tending to rotate the friction wheel when the shaft 2 1 is rotated. The position of the wheel 26 and of shaft 24' is controlled by a member 29, pivotally secured to a pin or shaft 30, suitably supported from the machine. Secured to the shaft 30, which is substantially a rock shaft, is a member 31 arranged to cooperate with the circumferential face of the roll of paper on shaft 7. A spring 32 normally maintains the member Patented Sept. 25, 1917.. i

31 in contact with the paper, so that as the diameter of the paper increases the friction wheel 26 is moved towardthe outer end of the shaft. By this construction the friction wheel starts driving the roll near the center, and as the diameter of the roll increases, the friction wheel moves toward the exterior, driving the same at substantially the same speed as when the spool was nearly empty. Of course the friction mechanism may be modified or equivalent mechanism substituted therefor.

Arranged on the frame 16 on the bellcrank 15, 16 is a pinion 40, the same being piv-otally supported on a shaft or a pin 39. The pinion 40. meshes with the gear 11, and when the bell-crank is rocked, may mesh with a pinion 41 arranged on a shaft 42. Secured to shaft 42 is a gear 43, which meshes with a pinion 44 on a shaft 45. The shaft 45 drives a gear 46, which meshes with and drives a pinion 47, secured to shaft 5, which controls the spool carrying the roll of paper. I also show a gear or pinion 49, arranged on a shaft 50, to which is secured a friction wheel 51. Arranged to coeperate with the friction wheel 51 is a brakeshoe 52, which is secured at 53 to a lever 54, pivotally supported at 55 to the partition 37, arranged within themachine. The end 56 of lever 54 is provided with a button 57, this being termed the speed button. By turning the speed button 57, pressure of the brake member 52 on the friction wheel 51 may be varied so as to control the speed of the device. Any equivalent mechanism may be employed. In addition to the brake mechanism mentioned,

I also provide a strap brake 59, arranged to coeperate with the brake wheel 51, which extends to the exterior of the machine and is provided with a hand rest 60. I Springs61 and 62 tend to normally maintain the strap brake 59 in braking engagement with the friction wheel 51. When the brake isreleased the gear 11 is driven from its shaft 10. In Figs. 3 and 4, I show a suitable clock-work mechanism for driving the shaft 10. In these figures, however, the mechanism is not shown in detail, but merely the casing 3501f the same is broken away-to show the spring 36. The winding mecha-- nism may be wound by winding the shaft 10 similar to a clock.

As most clearly shown in Fig. 2, I provide a top plate or table 63 aupon the top of the casing, having an opening 64 therein, arranged to show the paper, the top'of the casing being formed to show the paper under the cover or table plate 63. As shown,rplate 63 is slidably maintainedin position by the flanges 65 of the casing, and which is provided with a projection 66 for moving and controlling the position of the same. While any equivalent construction may be. employed, it will be noted that the casing and most of the other parts may be made up of stampings, considerably decreasing the cost of manufacture. In Figs. 1 and 2, I show a button 62, which button is arranged to swing around and maintain the hand rest bar 60 in a depressed position when desired, as when the machine is reversed.

The operation of the machine may bebriefly described as follows: 'Assume that the partsare as described, if bar 60 is depressed the clock mechanism drives the shaft 10, which, through the gear and pinions 11, 1.2, 20, 23, 27, and shaft 24, drives the friction wheel 26, and therebv drives thepaper or roll in the direction indicated by the arrow, moving the paper from right to left. "When it'is desired toreversethe mechanism, button 19 is depressed, thereby disengaging the gears. or pinions 12 and 20, and throwing the pinions 40 and 41 into engagement. The gear 11 then drives the shaft 5, orspool mounted thereomthrough the gears 40, 41, 43, 44, 46 and 47 ,=moving the paper from left to right, or retrieving it. Then retrieving the paper the button 62 may be turned to maintain the bar 60down so that the hand need not rest thereon. As is obvious, as the size of the roll 61nc'rea'ses, the speed of the paper increases, so that it 1S2 comparatively easy matter and requiring but little time to rewind the paper from the roll 8 to roll 6. When rewound, plate 63 may be a-moved down to display any space on the paper, button19 is released a-ndzpinions 12 and 20 again thrown into motion. As the bar 60 is depressed thev paper feeds again from right to left. If the hand israised from bar 60, the paper, of courseystops, and begins to move again as soon as the bar is depressed. If desired, to vary the speed, the-speed button 57 can be adjusted, obviously increasing or. decreasing the friction between brake 52 and the friction wheel 51. lVhile the device is primarily intended for stenographers and court reporters"use, itmay, of course, be employed wherever found applicable.

Having thus described my invention, it is obvious that various immaterial modifica tionsmay be made in the same without departing from the spirit of my invention; hence I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the eXactform, construction, arrangement, or combination of parts herein shown and described, or uses mentioned.

WhatI claim as newiand desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. The combination in a writingtablet of the kind'described, of" a supply spooland a. receiving spool, means for driving the receiving spool at a gradually decreasing speed, in combination with a stripof paper carried by said spools, and "movable continuously during the Writingthereof, controlling means for said receiving roll driving means, arranged proximate the writing space and including a hand rest, whereby the operating handmay release the controlling means simultaneously with writing on the strip of paper, and the strip of paper will be gradually moved from one spool to the other.

2. In a writing tablet of the kind described, two paper spools, and means for supporting said spools, a paper supporting table arranged between said spools, and independent transmission mechanism for each of said spools, in combination with a driving shaft, a driving wheel operatively connected with said shaft, a pivotally supported bell-crank lever carrying upon each of its ends a wheel engaging the driving wheel,

wheels on the ends of the bell-crank lever being each arranged to drive one of the transmission mechanisms of the spools, but one being engaged therewith at one time, and a lever connected to the bell-crank arranged to rock the latter on its pivotal support to actuate one or the other of the transmission gears, whereby upon operating the bell-crank lever, either of the spools may be rotated at will, and means arranged on said table for controlling the driving mechanism with the writing hand, comprising a band rest bar extending parallel with the strip of paper at one side of the table, a brake wheel carried on said driving shaft, and means connected with said hand rest for engaging said brake wheel.

3. A writing tablet of the kind described, comprising two spools, a supporting table for carrying paper, located between the spools, a sliding writing plate positionedon the table, formed with an opening therethrough for displaying a portion of the paper on the table, transmission mechanism for each of the spools, and a brake mechanism for regulating the speed of the device, in combination with a cogged driving wheel, having loosely mounted on thesame shaft therewith a bell-crank lever carrying at the end of each of its arms a cog wheel meshing with the driving wheel, the cog wheel on one arm engaging and actuating transmission mechanism of one spool, and the cog wheel on the other arm arranged to engage and actuate the transmission mechanism of the other spool, but in the reverse direction, but one of said transmission mechanisms being engaged at a time, and a lever connected to the bell-crank lever and adapted to swing the same to transmit the movement of the driving wheel to either of said transmission mechanisms at will.

4. A device of the kind described, comprising two paper spools spaced from one another, driving mechanism for winding the paper from one spool to the other, and a writing platen arranged between the spools over which the paper passes, in combination with brake mechanism arranged to regulate the speed of the driving mechanism, a movable bar controlling the brake mechanism extending to a point near the writing table, said bar substantially the length of the platen, and arranged parallel to the direction of travel of the paper, a supplemental brake mechanism arranged to control the device when freed from the control of the first named brake mechanism.

5. In a device of the kind described and in combination, a suitable casing, a pair of spools spaced apart and rotatably mounted in said casing, a strip of paper carried by one spool and extending therefrom to the exterior of the casing at the top thereof, and thence over the top, and to the other spool, a transmission gear for each spool, a driving wheel, and means for operatively connecting either transmission mechanism with said driving wheel at will, means for controlling the speed of the driving wheel, and means for stopping the movement of the mechanism as desired, including a movable hand rest arranged at the top of the exterior of the casing, and in proximity to the paper strip.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HERMAN B. CARLSON.

Witnesses:

ROY W. HILL, CHARLES I. COBB.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

